Glitter Lips drag queen jailed for benefit fraud

A benefits cheat who swindled £84,000 of taxpayers' cash claiming he could
barely walk was caught out when investigators saw a Youtube video of him
working as a drag queen.

By News agencies

2:54PM BST 22 Aug 2013

Mark Hawthorn, 49, stole thousands in disability living allowance on the basis he needed round-the-clock care and help getting out of bed.

But he was rumbled when fraud investigators caught him performing on stage as one half of a nightclub cabaret drag act called Glitter Lips.

Mark Hawthorn on stage as Aunt Tilly. (NEWSTEAM)

Footage of Hawthorn - aka Aunt Tilly - on stage in a blonde wig, high heels and cocktail dress was uncovered by officials from The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) after it was uploaded to Youtube.

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Stafford Crown Court heard he earned up to £250 a time working as a showgirl in nightclubs and bars across the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

He was even filmed by investigators working out in the gym, despite claiming it took him five minutes just to walk 50 yards.

In total Hawthorn, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, was overpaid £84,534 in incapacity and disability allowances over a nine year period.

He also avoided paying almost £4,000 in income tax and national insurance while working as his alter ego for entertainment company Telstar.

Hawthorn pleaded guilty to three counts of failing to notify the DWP of a change of circumstances and two counts of fraud.

Mark Hawthorn arriving at court. (NEWSTEAM)

He was jailed for six months by Judge Michael Challinor who described his offending as "truly breathtaking".

Sentencing Hawthorn, Judge Challinor said: "You have to understand the seriousness of this case, you have been claiming to be unable to work for almost nine years.

"You reported that you were almost completely helpless, needing help to get out of bed and even wash yourself.

"While you were claiming you appeared on stage as a female impersonator. Regularly wearing high heels in an act that was often energetic. All the while you also paid no tax or National Insurance.

"Your offending was truly breathtaking. You should have confined your acting to female impersonations rather than pretending to be ill.

"There are many unfortunate people in this country who are entitled to benefits. They get little enough as it is and people like you deplete the fund.

"The mitigation is considerable in this case, I accept in 1992 you were diagnosed with a serious illness which affects you now.

"I have read the letters from doctors and the reports and due to that I cut the starting point in half. I also take into account your early guilty plea.

"I do not accept that you will be overly harmed by a period in prison and your condition is one that can be adequately monitored in prison, the sentence must be both a punishment and a deterrent

"Thus the sentence is one of six months, concurrent in all charges."

The court was told Hawthorn claimed he needed care seven days a week, could barely walk a few feet without being out of breath and even needed help washing himself.

The cross-dresser even applied for credit cards in his own name, filling out forms saying he had an income of between £19,000 and £25,000.

Earlier, Trevor Meegan, prosecuting, told the court that Hawthorn had committed a "flagrant and systematic fraud" between March 1, 2009 and August 12 last year.

He said: "The defendant claimed and received income support in the belief he was unfit for work.

"He completed various forms from 2001 and failed to inform the authorities as to the truth of his situation.

"He had been claiming Disability Living allowance since 1997 and also claimed council tax support on properties in Tamworth and Walsall.

"This was a flagrant and systematic fraud, claimed over a long period of time and of high value.

"While he was claiming he was self employed as a drag artiste. He went by the stage name of Tilly, performing as part of a double act called Glitter Lips, or The Tourettes. He received around £200 - £250 cash payment for each performance.

"In June 2012, on three consecutive days he was secretly filmed at a local gym lifting weights. He was a well known regular at the gym.

"He was also shown taking part in aerobics classes as well as doing aerobics while carrying dumbbells. He took out credit cards, saying on the forms that he earned between £19,000 and £25,000 a year.

"But on the benefit forms he claimed he needed help getting out of bed seven days a week.

"He said he couldn't walk more than a few feet, that he needed to use his inhaler several times a day. He said he needed help to wash and clothe himself and that he suffered from neck pain and throat illness. The prosecution say this was fraudulent from the outset."

Kate Thomson, defending, said that Hawthorn used his alter ego as a self esteem booster and that he was "very remorseful" for his actions.

She added: "In 1992 he was given just one year to live and put on a cocktail of drugs he remains on today.

"His condition is now manageable but these drugs have pretty severe side effects. He admits his offending, but he has not been working continuously for 25 years. The earnings filled out on the credit card applications I would also say were inflated.

"He has had a horrendous life so far, he had a very unsettled young life and has only just now got into a settled relationship with a settled life.

"He suffers from depression and outside his stage persona is a very shy individual who doesn't deal with change very well."

Clare Djordjevitch, a spokesperson for the DWP, said after the hearing: "It's cases like these that show us why welfare reform is needed.

"We have a duty to the taxpayer and our customers to make sure that these vital benefits only go to those who need them.

"Benefit fraud takes money away from the most vulnerable. "It is a crime and we are committed to stopping it by catching criminals at the front line and making sure our reforms make the benefit system less open to abuse."